Saturday, May 31, 2014

Market share slipping,
customer counts tracking downward is your restaurant capitulating market share
as fast as KFC is in the United States?
Don’t let your brand become more a reflection of yesterday than
tomorrow. It time to look at within the grocerant niche at Ready-2-Eat and
Heat-N-Eat food that is ‘better for you’.
That’s just what Millennials are looking for.

So you think your know all
about then well here are just some of the common misconceptions; Millennials
are narcissistic, Millennials are broke, Millennials are frivolous
spenders. While food marketers look for
answers on how to attract the 77 million Millennials in the United States here
are some clues from Nielsen’s report 'break the myths' of millennial generation.

Key
highlights from the study:

·Diverse,
expressive and optimistic:
Millennials are characterized by more than just their age. As a group, they’re
more racially and ethnically diverse than any previous generation. They value
self-expression and artistic pursuits. They’ve been hard hit by the recent
turbulence in the economy, but their high education levels and optimism
foreshadow their potential future success.

·Driving a
social movement back to the cities:
If they’re not still living with mom and dad, Millennials are fueling an urban
revolution looking for the vibrant, creative energy cities offering a mix of
housing, shopping and offices right outside their doorstep. They’re walkers and
less interested in the car culture that defined baby boomers.

·Struggling,
but they have an entrepreneurial spirit:
They’ve been hit particularly hard by the Great Recession. They’re dealing with
high unemployment, low income and high student loans as they try to establish
themselves. However, invention is the daughter of invention and some Millennials
have hit it big by investing in startups and following the own entrepreneurial
pursuits.

·Deal
shoppers and desire authenticity:
Given their small paychecks, they are savvy shoppers always on the lookout for
a good deal. Millennials put a premium on authentic, handmade, locally produced
goods – and they’re willing to pay more for products from companies with social
impact programs. Getting a good deal is a priority, but they won’t compromise
on quality. They want to feel good about what they buy.

·Connected
and want the personal touch:
Technology defines Millennials. They sleep with their mobiles and post status
updates from the bathroom. When interacting with companies via social media,
they value authenticity – they want to feel like they have a personal, direct
interaction with the brand – and in return, they’ll advocate and endorse that
brand.

Nothing
says authentic like Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food. Since many
are walkers small local retail food outlets with the messaging that edifies
local, fresh and portable sell. On the
run, time tarve Millennials still have time to endorse you and your food via
social media something no other generation has done.

Friday, May 30, 2014

How hot is to
hot? Chili’s is spicing things up in the
retail food sector with a bold new look at with remodeled, repositioned, and
remenued restaurants. While customers are
looking for bold flavors, ‘better for you” food offerings Chili’s has come to
understand that in an Omni-channel retail world that consumers still may not
want to eat in a restaurant.

So part of the
repositioning packaged focused on enhanced Online Ordering, Food Delivery and
Catering. With all of that in place
Chili’s still need to edify the restaurant experience with extended brand
relevance; thus they are entering the frozen
food court.

While frozen
food sales have been experiencing a protracted sales slump within the grocery
sector Chili’s hope to provide a much need lift for grocery stores while
edifying its customer base. Joining the ilk of Boston Market, California Pizza
Kitchen, Claim Jumper the Frozen Food
Court does provide a platform for brand inclusion.

Mark Toth, VP-marketing at Bellisio
Foods, is working with Chili's. . "We loved the brand and the idea of
bringing Southwestern to the freezer, something that's been missing in
frozen-entree category,"

Chili's saw opportunity to experiment with
"bold flavors" that consumers want, but found that what works in a
restaurant might not fly at retail today, but could migrate in reverse at some
time. Claudia Schaefer, VP-food and
beverage development at Chili's said "The strategy is not to take existing
products and force them into retail” but too 'Chili's-ized' it." At the
right time.

Some of the new items are Bacon Mac 'N' Cheese; Cajun-Style Chicken
Alfredo; Cheesy Chicken Pasta Florentine; Chicken Fajita Rice Bowl; Island
Chicken & Rice and Mango Chicken with Rice. These new products will begin
arriving at some 14,000 grocery stores soon and should be available June 2.

The Ready-2-Eat and
Heat-N-Eat grocerant niche has created a platform which both fresh prepared and
frozen products can coexist. Success
does leave clues and extending the brand creates additional customer relevance.
The question in Chili’s case is the marketing messaging strong, focus and
integrated? Slotting fees alone are inconsequential points of consumer
relevance in brand messaging. Will
Chili’s become the next 100 Million dollar product without a strong integrated
messaging? Let me know?

Success
does leave clues and integrating Foodservice Solutions® 5 P’s of food marketing
is a success clue many should be following.
Interested in learning how the 5P’s of Food Marketing can edify your
retail food brand while creating a platform for consumer convenient meal
participation, differentiation and individualization contact us via Call
1-253-759-7869 or Visit: www.FoodserviceSolutions.us

Thursday, May 29, 2014

It’s
been a long time coming but for the first time since 1947 the most common age
in the United States is no longer a Baby Boomer it is now a Millennial.

In
a new release from the U.S. Census Bureau it found that “22-year-olds are the most represented age group
in America, followed by 23-year-olds and then 21-year-olds. In fourth place
comes 53-year-olds — those born at the tail end of the Baby Boom, 1961— who are
the most-represented Baby Boomer age cohort. The shift occurred either in
2011 or late 2013, the Census estimates. Baby Boom is officially defined by the Census as
those born between 1946 and 1964.”

90 Million Milling Around

With
90 Million plus consumers between the age of 18 and 36 milling around outside
U.S. restaurants it is by far and away the most sought after group of
customers. These consumers are called Millennials and are in search of food
discovery, value, and a social experience.
They are resetting the price,
value, service equilibrium for restaurant operators.

How important are
Millennials to your restaurant? In” A
2010 report from Oracle,
that focused on the banking sector, estimated that Millennials’ purchasing
power will reach $2.45 trillion next year and $3.38 trillion—more than that of
the Baby Boomer generation—by 2018. Longer-term, Millennials seem like too big
a demographic for restaurants to ignore.” The answer is very important. Now
back to the formula.

Old Formula vs New Formula

The
old formula was: Price + Quality + Service + Portability
= Value . That formula has evolved with Millennials
today Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Guru has reevaluated, calculated and
evolved the formula with Millennials and here is the new formula: Price + Quality + Social + Portability =
Value.

When
shopping in grocery stores, Millennial foodies spend more on premium
ingredients and are more likely to opt for small-batch handcrafted beers
and artisanal cheeses than the big brand names.

Custom
food options, such as the 87,000 possible drink combinations that can be
had at a single Starbucks unit, are seen as a need, not a luxury.

It’s
just not about nutrition for Millennials. They view food as entertainment
and self-expression.

Most
important when choosing food in general, the top-scoring attribute was “A
good value for the money,” at 36 percent. Good value was also the
top-scored when respondent were asked what is more important when choosing
food from a restaurant. Thirty-nine percent said value mattered
most.

www.FoodserviceSolutions.us
specializes in outsourced business development. We can help you
identify, quantify and qualify additional food retail segment opportunities or
a brand leveraging integration strategy. Foodservice Solutions of Tacoma WA is the global leader in the Grocerant niche since
1991

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

FamilyMart, 7 Eleven, Lawson’s, President Chain, Dairy
Farm International Holdings all have more operating convenience stores around
the world than Sainsbury. In Great
Britain however Sainsbury is the one to watch.
Sainsbury has taken the time to study consumer food shopping migration
globally and in Great Britain it has found success leveraging Foodservice
Solutions® four steps to profitable growthBuild,
Measure, Learn, and Repeat.

·Sainsbury
has 600+ C-stores in Great Britain with
200+ in London alone.

·Sainsbury
plans to open two C-stores a week for the foreseeable future.

·Sainsbury
now has more C-stores than Supermarkets.

·Sainsbury’s
convenience business is growing at 18% a year

The
Retail Food Consumer is on the Move

Sainsbury’s convenience business with over five
million customers a week visiting its C- stores is one reason that Simon Twigger, Sainsbury’s Convenience
Director, said: “Our convenience business is going from
strength to strength as customers continue to enjoy the benefits of regular top
up shopping and the ability to walk to a local store. Sainsbury’s has an
unrivalled history in London and the South East with our first store opening in
Drury Lane in 1869 and these new stores carry on this tradition. The new
‘Locals’ will be located on high streets and in the heart of communities,
providing access to healthy, quality food at fair prices. They will also give a
real boost for other retailers as they bring increased footfall and trade.”

Evolving
with Consumers

The consumer is dynamic not static and in 1869 no
one had ever hear of a convenience stores but the dynamics of a consumer
relevant brand demand change. Sainsbury
has found a new growth vehicle ‘Local” store or C-stores. There is only one way a company can stay in
business a 100+ years and that is with constant change.

Foodservice Solutions® four
steps to profitable growthBuild,
Measure, Learn, and Repeat can drive top line growth and bottom line
profits for your company. Are you ready for Outside Eye’s for Inside
Profits?

Tuesday, May 27, 2014

In
a recent report Philip Lymbery, chief executive of Compassion in World Farming,
claimed shoppers are being confused by labels like ‘farm fresh’ and ‘country
fresh’ which actually mean that meat and fish is factory farmed. His claim is that “consumers who are worried
about sustainability and healthy food should eat McDonald’s.”

Lymbery
went on to say that “In the UK at least McDonald’s they only use pasture-red
beef, the milk is organic, the pork is RSPCA approved and the fish is
sustainable… “The company shows that food that is farmed responsibly does not
need to be expensive.”

Lymbery
points out that in when a consumer is shopping in a supermarket that it is not
clear in the is a product is sustainable or not. He notes “Factory farmed food
isn’t labeled” in supermarkets thus they are not being honest with consumers
and that McDonalds is much more transparent.

The
Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat grocerant niche is driven by convenience consumers
deem “better for you” Foodservice
Solutions® commends McDonald’s for transparency and strongly encourages all
retail food companies within the Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food
grocerant niche to completely transparent. Consumer will reward you if you
are. Differentiation does not mean
different it means familiar with a twist.
However consumer don’t like kinda
transparent they want transparency.

Outside eyes can deliver top line sales and
bottom line profits. Invite Foodservice Solutions® to provide brand and product positioning
assistance or a grocerant program assessment. www.FoodserviceSolutions.us

Monday, May 26, 2014

Retail food consumer migration continues with Trader Joe’s
and sister company Aldi continuing to garner market share from legacy food
operators. Chains such as Fairway and
Sprouts Farmers Market are constantly repositioning, making noise not market
progress. While “better for you”
grocery star-ups come and go Whole Foods focus on the customer will continue to
drive sustainable success.

The consumer second choice after Price is “better for you” Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared
food. Ready-2-Eat food prepared fresh is
deemed by customers as “Better for You”.
Whole Foods is and has been leading the industry with quality grocerant
niche fresh prepared food.

Selling food the way consumers want is a key driver moving
forward, few companies are doing that with fresh prepared food the way Whole
Foods does. The halo around “Better for You”
and fresh prepared will drive unique positioning and garner consumer
acceptance. Remember 50% of American’s
over the age of 18 are single, the ability to mix, match, and bundle
incremental items will drive on-going top line growth and bottom line profits
for Whole Foods.

While in the past Whole
Foods had a poor pricing image problem – the rather unflattering “Whole
Paycheck” moniker – has been reversed and is now Whole Fresh Prepared Food that
is Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat focused. Whole Foods success will continue from
the center of the Grocerant Niche for some time to come. Leaders lead and Whole Foods Grocerant focus
is the right track for the right time.

Assessment, or brand,
product placement, menu positioning assistance simply Visit: www.FoodserviceSolutions.us or
call 253-759-7869. Outside Eyes can be a platform for inside results. Since 1991 Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma, WA has been the global
leader in the Grocerant Niche

Sunday, May 25, 2014

Wendy’s refocusing efforts on ‘Right Price Right Size
Menu’ is right-on! Extending brand messaging with new Limited Time Offer’s
(LTO’s) the ilk of the new Steakhouse Jr. Cheeseburger Deluxe is just one more
example showing how Wendy’s understands the bifurcation ongoing within retail
foodservice.

Innovation
be dammed; it’s another burger but Wendy's new LTO combines quality positioning
without the steakhouse price with the introduction of the new Steakhouse Jr.
Cheeseburger Deluxe.

The
new LTO Steakhouse burger continues with fresh messaging. The Steakhouse burger uses never-frozen beef. Wendy’s makes all burgers with “fresh
hamburger’. The Steakhouse patty is seasoned with steakhouse seasoning, melted
cheese and a garlic aioli sauce made with roasted garlic, onion, and Dijon
mustard. The hamburger patty is topped with sliced red onion, hand-cut tomato
and hand-leafed lettuce. The Steakhouse Jr. Cheeseburger Deluxe is $1.49* at
participating locations.”

Understanding
Foodservice Solutions® 5 P’s of food marketing Wendy’s Liz Geraghty, Wendy's
vice President of brand marketing said "This delicious new addition to the
Right Price Right Size Menu delivers on our continued promise to give consumers
new taste experiences on any budget."…"The Steakhouse Jr.
Cheeseburger Deluxe features steakhouse-inspired flavors, such as savory
seasoning and garlic aioli, bringing premium ingredients you wouldn't expect to
find on a value menu,"

Success
does leave clues and integrating Foodservice Solutions® 5 P’s of food marketing
is a success clue many should be following.
Interested in learning how the 5P’s of Food Marketing can edify your
retail food brand while creating a platform for consumer convenient meal
participation, differentiation and individualization contact us via Call
1-253-759-7869 or Visit: www.FoodserviceSolutions.us

Saturday, May 24, 2014

Without a doubt Cinnabon with over a billion dollars in sales is the
cinnamon roll global brand leader.
Cinnabon’s industry leadership is edified by CEO Kat Cole Foodservice
Solutions® Food Merchant of 2014 award. With the exception of Starbucks, no
other restaurant company operates as well in our Omni-channel retail world as
Cinnabon in large part because of it leader Kat Cole according to Foodservice
Solutions® Grocerant Guru Steven Johnson.

No one was surprised then when Cinnaholic vegan bakery concept made an
appearance on ABC’s “Shark Tank” reality show that the sharks like the cinnamon
roll niche, the opportunity, and the differentiation that Cinnaholic presented.

Now Cinnaholic
owners Shannon and Florian Radke plan to grow the vegan bakery concept from its
home in Berkeley, CA, to the entire country and overseas via multiple avenues
of distribution. Yes, they are focusing on consumer relevance with an
Omni-channel retail approach. You might say copping Kat Cole and Cinnabon.

Florian Radke stated "Our appearance on the show
afforded us the ability to bring our passion to entrepreneurs across the world."…
"When we opened our bakery in 2010, we never dreamed of the day we would
be in front of billionaire entrepreneurs pitching our idea, but it happened.
Although the Sharks chose to make a deal on the mail-order portion of our
business, we understand the need to have additional Cinnaholic locations to
meet the needs of our customers. With that in mind, we are ready to
expand Cinnaholic through franchising."

Are Cinnaholic cinnamon rolls ‘better for you” that is the
question. They are in addition to being
100-percent vegan, Cinnaholic cinnamon rolls are also dairy-free, lactose-free,
egg-free and cholesterol-free. Cinnabon is an indulgence and we believe that
Cinnaholic will become an indulgence not a replacement.

Cinnabon
has many quality products the ilk of branded frozen beverages, available in key
market niche flavors Chocolate Mocha, Strawberry, Strawberry Banana and
Tropical Blast®. Kat
Cole’s Cinnabon has at its core ‘legendary’ branded Makara® Cinnamon, creating
a point of qualitative differentiation that I believe would be hard to beat.
There may be a Shark in the Market but not all Sharks win.

Friday, May 23, 2014

Interactive and participatory catering is a platform
of consumer relevance in 2014. In an
Omni-channel retail world successful restaurants the ilk of Moe’s Southwest
Grill are driving sales and brand relevance with catering and Online ordering.

Moe's
Southwest Grill announced that it has “partnered with MonkeyMedia Software to
deploy MonkeyCatering and MonkeyOnlineOrdering as the technology tools to
support its catering online ordering and database platforms system wide.”

QSR
magazine reported that “Moe’s tested MonkeyMedia Software's catering software
with a pilot group of both franchise and corporate-owned locations in cities
such as Atlanta, Indianapolis, Miami, Nashville, New Jersey, and Washington,
D.C., among others. The decision came after all success criteria, including
sales growth, functionality, ordering benchmarks, and test partner feedback
were met.”…

“During
the pilot program, Monkey Media proved to be an excellent partner, and with the
support of our franchise council and catering committee members, we’re looking
forward to launching their platform to help drive catering sales across our
more than 500 locations,” says Jamie Schlef, Moe’s director of catering….

Moe’s
and MonkeyMedia Software are developing a roll-out plan for June 2014 that will
improve the organization and efficiency of franchise partners’ catering
business and increase catering sales by providing consumers online access to
Moe’s catering offerings.”

Expanding
the brand while building sales with a catering platform is another positive
consumer interactive, participatory and consumer relevant action that garners
success.

Thursday, May 22, 2014

The restaurant industry entered an era in
2013 where customer counts were down and industry same store sales slipped
according to Black Box Intelligence. Where recycled CEO’s simply did not get
the job done. Is it time for Outside
Eye’s or simply a Non-Boomer CEO? The
restaurant industry appears to be lacking innovation of late and consumers are
migrating to Non-traditional avenues of fresh food distribution.

So it’s time to ask is your company
thinking like a legacy boomer CEO holding on to what worked in 1980, 1990, or
2000? Are you still utilizing benchmarks
from 2000 or 2005? At the intersection
of consumers, technology, Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared is new innovation: new avenues of distribution and filled with consumers
with the psychological mindset of today not 2005.

Is your restaurant business model expanding
both brand and profits gaining customers counts and top line revenue? Some
restaurant business models and products have been around so long that we just
take them for granted, while others concepts that are becoming new business
models are so new that we’re not quite sure what to expect. The easiest to
explain why is important by looking at a few examples.

Here are some examples we came across that involve challenging our
orthodoxies that we think you might want to think about.

1. Coffee Shops In the typical
coffee shop pretty much anywhere in the world, the business model works like
this – you buy a coffee and it comes along with it the right to take up a place
at any table in the café for as long as you want. So, coffee buys you time. An
article I came across on NPR highlights an entrepreneur in Moscow that has
opened a restaurant that loosely translates to the Clockface Café where instead of buying coffee and
getting time, you instead buy time ($4/hr per person for the 1st hour and $2 an
hour after that, up to a maximum of $12 after 5 hours) and get coffee for free.
Ivan Meetin, the founder, plans to open his next café in London. Meanwhile I
have heard of similar operations in Paris, and by now they can probably also be
found elsewhere. So, in your business what do people get for free, and what do
they pay for? And is there an opportunity to change around what you charge for?

2. Waste Disposal In many
businesses, and in the creation of most products, there is waste. And in most
cases, businesses pay to have this waste removed from their premises. Or there may
be waste that the customer has to pay to have removed. But this doesn’t always
have to be the case.

KFC,
McDonald’s, Burger King, etc. used to have to pay to have their used fryer oil
picked up, but now thanks to the rise of biodiesel they may even make money
from this waste product.

Chicken
processors used to throw the feet away after processing a truckload of
chickens, but after they discovered that chicken feet are a delicacy in several
Asian countries, they stopped throwing them away and instead started exporting
them. In fact, chicken feet sell for more per pound than chicken breasts in
China.

Broken OREO’s
used to have no value before Cookies ‘n’ Cream ice cream (and now Cookies ‘n’ Cream OREO’s) were
discovered.

We came across
an example of a bottle cap concept created
by designers from the Lanzhou University of Technology in China, intended to
give poor children access to building blocks for play, from what was previously
thrown away.

3. Discounts for Data Data security
and privacy is becoming an increasingly hot topic, and in the past companies
would either ask customers for their data and not give them anything for it, or
just not ask for it. But now we are seeing some interesting models of companies
asking customers for data and instead giving them something of value in
exchange. For example, Urban Outfitters rewards
users that respond to promotions inside their mobile app or to users
that allow its app to connect to their Twitter or Instagram accounts with
points that can be redeemed for sale previews, concert tickets, or early access
to new pieces. What data do you want from your customers? What is it worth to
you? How could this exchange be made engaging and not be seen as a purely financial
transaction?

4. The Soft Drink Category is
Saturated and Cold Soft drinks… How many people out there think
that the soft drink category is a blue ocean full of incredible opportunities
for unbounded growth for established soft drink makers? Most people would say
that this is a mature category and a tough place for companies, full of
merciless competition. But yet, people continue to innovate and challenge this
orthodoxy. Witness a couple of interesting new concepts.

Britain has
always been a hotbed of innovation, and the country that brought us Pret a
Manger and Innocent smoothies brings us this tasty treat. Mr. Sherick’s Shakes brings
people a little bit of luxury to their day in the form of their high quality
milkshakes.

Meanwhile
in Japan, there is a growing trend manifesting in a wave of product launches in
the soft drink category that are not cold, but instead hot. Witness this
example of what has always been a cold drink, Ginger Ale, being brought into
the Japanese market as a hot beverage by Coca Cola’s Canada Dry unit.

Consumers
always love something new and different, even if it the new is something old
that has disappeared from the market then reappeared. This is why fashion runs
in cycles, and in a mature category like soft drinks there is no reason why we
shouldn’t keep these principles in mind. Is it time you bring in Outside Eye’s?

www.FoodserviceSolutions.us specializes in outsourced business
development. We can help you identify, quantify and qualify additional food
retail segment opportunities or a brand leveraging integration strategy.
Foodservice Solutions of Tacoma WA is the global
leader in the Grocerant niche visit Facebook.com/Steven Johnson,
Linkedin.com/in/grocerant or twitter.com/grocerant

Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Dickey’s Barbecue Pit continues expanding from coast
to coast and can now be found from California to New York. Dickey’s is one of
the best chain restaurants expanding the brand into the Ready-2-Eat and
Heat-N-Eat grocerant niche. Dickey’s sells lunch boxes to go, has an
outstanding catering program and continues to expand its line of rubs and
sauces.

Understanding the value of extending the brand
Dickey’s is selling unique Branded Merchandise via its website driving both
traffic and sales Dickey’s is “the world's largest barbecue franchise.

Last
Holiday season Dickey's Barbecue edified its loyal following of barbecue fans
looking to turn up the heat on their holiday shopping. They introduced just in
time for Cyber Monday, introduced branded memorabilia such as T-shirts, caps,
cookbooks, and Dickey's famous Rib Rub on Dickeys.com.
“ Are you customers fans as well? It
time to start planning for the Holidays, Where and what are you sellin?

Building
top line sales and bottom line profits while building top of mind awareness is something
Dickey’s is good at. Doing it with
contemporary relevance for today’s consumer is the next step for all restaurants..
Speaking about his Holiday promotion Roland Dickey, Jr., president of Dickey's
Barbecue Restaurants, Inc. said "Dickey's has become so much more than
just a recognizable brand, we hold memories for many people. Now, we can also
offer cool holiday gifts for all those resident grill masters in the
family."

Customers are dynamic not
static. Dickey stated "Many people
grew up having family dinners and good times at Dickey's and they want a piece
of that nostalgia to take home," said Dickey. "The retail end of the
business is something we're looking forward to sharing with our
customers." Extending you brand is more important and relevant today than
ever before. Are you extending your brand
or over protective of it?

Tuesday, May 20, 2014

In an Omni channel retail world consumers are buying fresh
prepared food in multiple channels including QSR’s, Fast Casual, Full Service
Restaurants, Convenience Stores, Grocery Deli’s, Drug Stores and more and more
within the Dollar Store sector.

Nielsen found that “of the nearly 17k retail stores that
opened in 2013, 36% were dollar stores.”
Success does leave clues not only does Dollar Tree want to sell fresh
food the ilk of Ribeye Stakes, Hot Dogs,
Turkey Burgers, Milk, Egg’s and Salads Mix of all kinds; they are now selling
products direct to restaurant operators here are a couple of links:

The overall growth of the Dollar store sector has exceed all
other retail sectors for growth over the past 10 years without exception
according to Nielsen. Within the Dollar Store sector extensive testing of selling
Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food is underway. It seems they are taking a page out of the
Ikea and Costco playbook.

Selling fresh prepared food is no longer a monolithic
process. All food retailers must understand that simultaneously extending the
brand in multiple channels is a requirement for brand building, and building
sustainable Top line growth and Bottom line profits.

Visit:
www.FoodserviceSolutions.us
if you are interested in learning how Foodservice Solutions 5P’s of Food
Marketing can edify your retail food brand while creating a platform for
consumer convenient meal participation, differentiation
and individualization or you can learn more at Facebook.com/Steven Johnson, Linkedin.com/in/grocerant or
twitter.com/grocerant

Monday, May 19, 2014

Many legacy restaurant chain Boomer
CEO’s are in a quagmire of stewardship. Unwilling to dramatically
redesign; concept footprint, menu items, or points of distribution they are
saddled with “canned” concepts once suited for the golden age of the restaurant
industry.

Foodservice
Solutions® Grocerant Guru™ stated “Brand protectionism is fast fading away and
giving ground to brand evolution. That evolution is required for long term
brand survival. Consumers are dynamic not static and brands must be as well.”

Consumers
are not thinking like many boomer CEO’s who continue to hold on to
psychological mindset of yesterday’s brand position in a world of contemporized
consumers. When thinking “What’s for Dinner” recent research by
Foodservice Solutions® found 86 percent of consumers at 1PM have no idea at all
and 65 percent of consumers at 5PM still do not know “What’s for Dinner”.
Thus the rise of the Grocerant Niche companies selling fresh prepared food for
Eating In or Eating Out in direct competition for legacy restaurants while
challenging legacy grocery stores models.

Want to know what a Grocerant is?

Want to know what a Grocerant is or where to find Grocerant Niche
Ready-2-Eat fresh prepared food? In reality a grocerant is where a consumer can
find fresh prepared food aimed at the time-starved consumer with Ready-2-Eat or
Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared meals or meal components that can be bundled into a
meal and or packaged for Take-Out, Take-Away, or To-Go.

Take-Out and Take-Away
Options Threaten legacy business models…
menu items have been around so long that consumer simply take them for
granted. Millennials are on a quest for personal discovery… looking past the
once obvious choice. The result is an opportunity for a new business, that is
new business models selling fresh prepared Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh
prepared food.

With the increased presents of the 65
inch HDTV in home today Foodservice Solutions® research find “The 65 Inch
HDTV Syndrome” was edified recently in the 9th edition of “The Why Behind the Buy” published
by Acosta Sales and Marketing found:

“Contrary to some reports, eating at
home is not passé. Rather it has evolved to meet the needs of busier
lifestyles, more sophisticated palates and consumers who have become accustomed
to immediate gratiﬁcation. Indications of how the boundaries of eating in and
eating out have blurred can be seen in the rise of the grocerant - grocery
store as restaurant - where ready-to-eat meals have been a major area of
growth; the popularity of quick-serve restaurants, food delivery and take-away;
and the growing array of meal solution product offerings from CPG companies. In
other words, shoppers are increasing eating out by eating in.”

Millennials Drive Change

The influence of Millennials can no
longer be denied. Millennials which represent 22% of the U.S. population
today are fast approaching their “prime” spending years. Millennials grew up
with fast internet access everywhere, mobile technology, and are now engaging
and demanding a food focused seamlessly integrated life style. In a
recent study titled The Why? Behind The Buy found “65% of Millennials
say losing this phone or computer would have a greater negative impact on their
daily routine than losing their car.” Are you willing to give up
your car? Soon Millennials will out spend Generation X and the Boomer
Generation.

That same study found that young
shoppers are adapting to new food trends including buying Ready-2-Eat and
Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food. That is something all food retailers need
to pay particular attention too. In fact that study found that in the
past 30 days:

As you can see for each of the above,
Millennial Shoppers outpace Boomers anywhere from 30% to a whopping 100%! Now if you are looking for successful
strategy’s and tactic’s to reclaim your market position, elevate your brand it
might be time for proven successful outside eyes.

Visit:
www.FoodserviceSolutions.us
if you are interested in learning how Foodservice Solutions 5P’s of Food
Marketing can edify your retail food brand while creating a platform for
consumer convenient meal participation, differentiation
and individualization or you can learn more at Facebook.com/Steven Johnson, Linkedin.com/in/grocerant or
twitter.com/grocerant

Sunday, May 18, 2014

It’s
Noon and 83% of consumers don’t know What’s for Dinner? The undercurrents of
evolving consumer shopping behavior, availability of Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat
fresh prepared food, time-starved consumers, and lack of appropriate cooking
skill-set combined with the fact no one wants to do dishes or empty the
dishwasher create what Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Guru calls “the
emerging Grocerant Tsunami”. Where
legacy food retailers will either adapt or get left behind at an accelerated
rate.

The
retail grocery sector has seen the collapses / demise of A & P, Albertson’s,
and now Safeway go from industry leaders too regional players dependent on SNAP
program to maintain any respectful volume numbers.

At
4 PM a full 62% of American consumers still don’t know according to Foodservice
Solutions® Grocerant Guru Steven Johnson.
Consumer discontinuity with the food sector is driven in large part by
new entrants the likes of retailer Harry & David for 80 years selling fresh fruit as a business
gift, then direct to consumer fresh fruit and gifts. Continually evolving this year Harry &
David is offering an Easter Brunch Meal just Heat-N-Eat, Pinkies Liquor stores,
a traditional liquor stores updated and
retrofitted with in store kitchens now offering fresh prepared Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat food
daily for To-Go only (Pinkies has no tables inside or out), and Walgreens
Up-Market stores offering fresh prepared Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat food.

Dinner a Paradox of Choice?

When face with all the options what’s for dinner consumers are
simply overwhelmed. Think about it. Is
cooking from scratch the first choice for consumers not incentivized with
government SNAP benefits? Whole Foods offers extensive Ready-2-Eat and
Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food options.
In fact 35% of Whole Food sales and 40% of profits come from Whole Foods
Grocerant Niche fresh prepared food options.

Restaurants are a great second choice for consumers when asked
What’s for Dinner? However as regular readers of this blog know the restaurant
veto in increasing numbers and is a result of “The 65 Inch HDTV Syndrome”
according to Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Guru. The result can be seen in
the stagnating restaurant sector year over year sales and customer count
numbers. Once leading companies the ilk
of Red Lobster, Olive Garden, Chili’s, Bennigans, Quiznos, and Sbarro all face
similar fates if they do not react to undercurrents of retail food consumer discontinuity.

Is Convenience What’s for Dinner?

When Casey’s General Stores a convenience store chain with 1,700+
stores started selling fresh prepared pizza it took off as did Casey’s same
store sales. However when Casey’s added
delivery they became a leading choice of What’s for Dinner in many
markets. Rutter’s Farm Stores, Wawa and
Sheetz all leading C-stores all increasingly moving successfully from Coffee
and Breakfast stop too successful lunch and increasingly the all are the
solution for consumers looking for What’s for Dinner.

Success Does Leave Clues.

At the intersection of consumers, technology, Ready-2-Eat and
Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food are new
points of fresh food distribution. If legacy food retailers want to maintain or
garner market share they much evolve as fast or faster than the competition and
consumers or risk capitulating brand equity, market share and consumer
relevance. Outside eyes can provide insights driving Top Line Sales and Bottom
Line Profits. Today, restaurants, C-stores, Drug Stores, Grocery Stores, and Liquor
Stores are all targeting consumers that are Ready-2-Eat. It’s 4 PM where is your customer buying
dinner tonight?

Visit: www.FoodserviceSolutions.us
if you are interested in learning how Foodservice Solutions 5P’s of Food
Marketing can edify your retail food brand while creating a platform for
consumer convenient meal participation, differentiation
and individualization or you can learn more at Facebook.com/Steven Johnson, Linkedin.com/in/grocerant or
twitter.com/grocerant

Saturday, May 17, 2014

Testing success, Walmart recently opened its first convenience
store in its home town of Bentonville, Arkansas. Clearly it is not something
that they wanted to do. However,
Sainsbury, Morrison’s, Tesco, Carrefour the worlds other large retailers have
tested, retested and found success. So
much so that Walmart entered the C-store ring.

Convenience stores have proven brand positive, customer
edifying, and profitable for leading legacy grocery retailers. I have no doubt that it will be profitable,
creating incremental brand value for Walmart.
It’s a logical progression for Walmart, in terms of demographics, the
supply chain, and footprint size, according
to Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Guru Steven Johnson.

Johnson calls it “a classic spoke-N-hub retail operation,” with
different store formats catering to customers with different goals and
motivations. C-stores would give Walmart the potential to increase the
frequency of shoppers’ visits and appeal more to the 50 percent of the U.S.
population over the age of 18 that are single.

“Single people don’t go to a Walmart so they can walk around for
40 minutes and buy stuff,” Johnson says. “They don’t have time for that. They
don’t need that many items or groceries, and the carts are so damn big, how
much can one person need?” Remember the U.S. Census reports that 50% of U.S.
residents over the age of 18 are single.
Incrementally this is a huge opportunity for Walmart.

Singles are time starved, on-the go and don’t want to shop and
buy 14 pork shops or 14 chicken breast at a time, don’t want to cook for one,
nor do they want to do dishes. Walmart’s focus within the c-store is “Quick
Meals,” “Drinks To Go,” which happens to be demographically on-target.

Walmart To Go is the same name that Walmart is using for its
online home delivery service. What if
Walmart started using c-stores as pickup points for online orders? Sainsbury,
Morrison’s, Tesco, Carrefour all found success in the c-store niche, Walmart
leveraging on-line pickup could slow Amazon Fresh and Amazon Spotlight driving additional success.

Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food had become a
disruptive element driving change in restaurants, grocery stores and retail
drug stores. If success does leave clues
watch for Walmart to open additional C-stores in California, Oregon and
Washington next.

Outside eyes can deliver top line sales and
bottom line profits. Invite Foodservice Solutions® to provide brand and product positioning
assistance or a grocerant program assessment. www.FoodserviceSolutions.us

Friday, May 16, 2014

Millennials have the
money and marketers are positioning food products in front of them as fast as
they can. While Millennials crave bold
flavors and they have shunned frozen meals for the most part. Boomers on the other
hand still find favor with frozen meals albeit less and less. Generation Z on
the other hand is Fresh Food Focused according to NPD.

So who is
generating? Gen Z as they are known
range in age from newborns to those age 23.
Today, Gen Z makes up about 32 percent of the U.S. population. Not only
do they want fresh prepared food they want it their way according to
Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Guru™ Steven Johnson.

Subway, Chipotle Mexican
Grill, and Papa Murphy’s Pizza all have helped usher in a new generation of
Grocerant Niche consumers according to Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant
Guru™. Sandwiches, Burrito’s and Pizza
customized, personalized and fresh prepared have elevated freshness to a new
generation that has no plans on looking back.

In a new report by the
NPD Group they suggest “salad consumption in particular will increase with Gen
Z, followed by quick-assembly meals (meal kits and sandwiches), and more
involved breakfast foods such as eggs, homemade pancakes, and French toast.
Savory snack foods, everything from crackers to salsa, are also expected to
become more popular.”

The above chart by NPD breaks
down of how many more or less servings—measured in millions—of certain types of
foods NPD expects Gen Z members will eat in 2018 compared with last year. The
forecasts are based on NPD’s analysis of how behavior changes with aging,
population distribution, and trend momentum.

NPD had been tracking Gen
Z for some time and restaurants are well aware that since 2008 restaurant visit
by families with kids (those including children under age 13) have been
declining since 2008. In fact the report
found “over the past six years “families with kids made 1 billion fewer visits
to U.S. restaurants compared to 306 million fewer visits by adult only
parties.”

Success does leave clues
and food marketers must maintain customer relevance or risk capitulating market
share. Integrating the 5 P’s of food
marketing with a specific focus on Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared
food is a solid clue.

Visit:
www.FoodserviceSolutions.us
if you are interested in learning how Foodservice Solutions 5P’s of Food
Marketing can edify your retail food brand while creating a platform for
consumer convenient meal participation, differentiation
and individualization or you can learn more at Facebook.com/Steven Johnson, Linkedin.com/in/grocerant or
twitter.com/grocerant

Thursday, May 15, 2014

The fact that 50 percent of the United States population
over the age of 18 is single may be a leading factor contributing too continued
restaurant customer migration from casual dining chain restaurants to both
fast-casual and quick-service outlets. Bonnie Riggs, NPD foodservice industry
analyst thinks that’s only part of the reason. Riggs recently stated that “Families are eating out less. A lot
less”.

Casual dining customer migration
began in 2007 had has continued to fall ever since. The restaurant industry never eager to change
was confident that it was simply a temporary economic setback and would
rebound. It has not. More important there is no indication that
consumer want to spend the time or money in fast casual restaurants any time
soon.

Entering the seventh year of declines and the latest
Knapp Track Index of casual dining same store sales reports that customer
traffic fell yet again in April 2014 another 2.4 percent. Riggs stated “ restaurant visits by
families with children 13 years and under have been declining since 2008.
"We've lost a lot of volume from families with kids," Riggs said.
"How do we get them back?"

Riggs
continued “that families made about 16 billion visits to restaurants in 2008.
Last year, they made about 14.5 billion. That's a substantial decrease. Riggs
said that visits declined considerably in 2009 and 2010 and has leveled off
ever since.”

According
to the NPD Group and Riggs,” Given families' importance to the restaurant sales
landscape - they represent 20 percent of all sales, after all—that decline in
full-service visits by families goes a long way toward explaining why casual
dining has struggled so much.”

Mix
& Match meal components are the hallmark of grocerant niche success according to Foodservice Solutions®
Grocerant Guru™ Steven Johnson. Regular
readers of this blog know Non-traditional
fresh prepared food retailers are surprising consumers with new flavor
combination or trendy new ingredients, many with the halo of ‘better for
you’ and portioned for one or two that
can be mixed and matched into a customized family meal for the home without the
expense and time of going out.

Wegmans, HEB, Whole Foods, Wawa,
Rutter’s Farm Stores and Sheetz all offer fast flavorful meal components that
can be bundled into a differentiated quality family meal. Restaurant the ilk of
Maggiano's Little Italy Today
and Tomorrow specials and Subway and Olive Garden’s similar specials
have helped a lagging industry. However
few have focused on how to compete in an Omni-Channel retail food world long
term other than our own Grocerant Guru™.
Outside eyes can drive inside sales and bottom line profits.

Outside eyes can deliver top line sales and
bottom line profits. Invite Foodservice Solutions® to provide brand and product positioning
assistance or a grocerant program assessment. www.FoodserviceSolutions.us

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

The undercurrent of food consumer
migration from format to format continues to pick up momentum. Hy-Vee is not
immune Food retailers are in the
desperate fight to retain market share, all are chasing after migrating
customers in what is becoming an epic battle for ‘share of stomach’.

Hy-Vee in an attempt to regain
customer momentum, edify consumer relevance, and save consumer time is going to
open 16 new convenience stores in an attempt to fend off Ready-2-Eat and
Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food offerings from restaurants and other
non-traditional fresh food retailers.

Iowa based Hy-Vee with sales of
more than $8 Billion and 235 stores in the Midwestern state of Iowa, Missouri,
Kansas, Nebraska, Minnesota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin will be a formidable
competitor in the C-store space with the ability to leverage a large customer
base and established brand value.

Companies the ilk of Casey’s
General Store, Olive Garden, and Pizza Ranch each have had considerable success
in the Midwestern U.S. Hy-Vee is will offer the proper balance of Ready-2-Eat
and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food offering fresh flavor combinations, new or trending
ingredients, reflecting the heightened industry competition that will stifle
customer migration.

Visit:
www.FoodserviceSolutions.us
if you are interested in learning how Foodservice Solutions 5P’s of Food
Marketing can edify your retail food brand while creating a platform for
consumer convenient meal participation, differentiation
and individualization or you can learn more at Facebook.com/Steven Johnson, Linkedin.com/in/grocerant or
twitter.com/grocerant